Jared Sims - A Jazz Concert featuring WVC, a well-known
Malaysian Jazz group, and co-presented by Dr Jared Sims, a leading jazz
saxophonist from the United States, will be held on 17th and 18th
January 2018 at Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC).

The main contributor to the concert is Malaysia's very own
well-known international jazz pianist –Tay Cher Siang. In June 2017, during his
participation in the WVU Piano Festival in West Virginia, Tay met Dr. Jared
Sims, who made a profound impression on him. After his second performance, Tay
was very impressed with Dr. Jared Sim's skills, his voice and strong musical
traits. Won’t you regret it if you see the beauty of the world all alone and
not share it with anyone? At that moment, he decided to invite Dr. Jared Sims
to Malaysia.

With the knowledge that
Dr. Jared Sims will be attending the Saxophone Symposium in Bangkok, Tay
invited him to perform in Malaysia. As far as he is concerned, jazz is based on
communication and spontaneity, so it is more difficult to find and schedule
suitable locations and dates than to arrange tracks.

Jazz originated in the
United States, focused on improvisation, and based on the swing characteristics
of the Shuffle rhythm. Because of its nature, the essence of jazz-soul has
penetrated every corner of the world. The jazz scene in Malaysia has been
thriving over the past few decades. Even though different lifestyles, cultures
and the environment may separate us, the spirit of jazz has always been to
communicate, understand and respect each other. This set of jazz ancestry from
American jazz mixed with Malaysian characteristics will be a spectacular
creation.

Tay Cher Siang Intro

When
Malaysian jazz pianist and founder of WVC, Tay Cher Siang started playing
the piano learning classical music,
he took an interest in jazz during his
teenage years and pursued his musical journey as a jazz pianist. He received
his Master’s in Jazz Pedagogy under the tutorage of Dr. Miltenberger and
Professor Scea. He immersed himself in
the education of jazz and taught at UCSI University, the University of Malaya,
The Yamaha Music Academy and University Putra Malaysia. He is also teaching at
his private studio, giving master
classes, and running jazz clinics throughout Malaysia.

Tay has been active in the Kuala Lumpur music scene since his
return. In addition to teaching, he has performed in a variety of music
festivals. Other genres include Unit Asia, Forest Earth, Gruv Avenue (Malaysian
Light Jazz), The Inner Voices, The Boplicity (traditional jazz band) and Yudi
& The Band (modern jazz band).

Dr Jared Sims Intro

Dr Jared Sims, a renowned musician and sound engineer,
specializes in saxophone, clarinet, flute, woodwind, jazz and funk music. He
has toured the United States, Europe, South America and India, and under his
own name, he has also participated in other combo performances.

He has produced more than thirty different albums crossing
multiple genres. His other recorded works include music for theme parks,
television commercials, and video games.

He performs regularly in Pittsburgh, New York City, Boston
and beyond. Currently the
Director of Jazz at West Virginia University, Sims is the former Assistant
Director of Jazz at University of Rhode Island and has previously taught at the
University of New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire University.

Sims started playing the baritone in the fifth grade, but only became
dedicated to this most colossal of saxophones after bringing a tenor to a class
at the New England Conservatory (NEC) and having his instructor chide him he
would never be great on it because he would be following in the footsteps of
too many legends.

Far from
taking offense, Sims took his teacher’s words to heart. “There are a lot of
gold standards on tenor,” he says. “I was trying to find a way to move past
those influences. Playing the baritone felt really natural to me. I felt like I
could do something personal and interesting with it.” A compelling example of
this is Sims’s “Seeds of Shihab,” a
tribute to baritone great Sahib Shihab, which luxuriates in the brawny,
bottom-rich sound of the instrument.

Sims
attended his first jazz concert, by Michael Brecker, in tenth grade, and saw
the World Saxophone Quartet perform the following year. His fascination with
the saxophone went “over the top” after he spoke with members of the WSQ
following the show.

According to reports by Cision PRWeb, a popular American
online media,
Sims earned a reputation as a “Saxophone Colossus,” at a performance in
Boston.

WVC Intro

WVC
is a well-known Malaysian jazz music band. Drawing inspiration from the many
facets of modern life influenced by Malaysian and other Asian cultures, the
music of WVC cuts across many musical genres and defies any kinds of
classification. Tunes such as “The Art of
the Wind Up Alarm Clock”, “Found and Lost”, “Standing in the Rain on Euclid
Avenue”, “Lost in Different Time Zone”, and “Waiting for That Day” examine and express human conditions in modern life using the art
form known as "jazz" as its stylistic musical vehicle.

The
group has toured extensively in the region, heralding back the spirit being
"on the road" of touring jazz bands of old. Through these regional
tours, it has brought its music to many
corners of Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Macau. On one of these tours, the quartet travelled extensively over 18 cities and
performed 23 concerts within a month, using different means of transportation,
and playing in several types of venues.

WVC
has five instrumental albums - “WVC TRiO” (2008), “ELEVEN” (2009), “In the Dark, I See Her” (2011), “Waiting For That
Day” (2014) and “Do Not Go Gently”
(2016) - which explore diverse
musical genres (while maintaining the spirit of jazz as its core) and
combinations in its line-up. Most of the recorded tunes are originals written by its members. In addition, the band also
experiments with transforming unlikely pop tunes, Chinese classics, and mainstream music into new jazz
rearrangements, in the spirit of great jazz musicians of old.

They
marked another milestone for the band in the Malaysian jazz scene, and garnered
10 nominations at the prestigious Boh-Kakiseni Cameronian Arts Awards, with
three wins: “BEST SOLO PERFORMANCE – INSTRUMENTAL BEST GROUP ORIGINAL
PERFORMANCE – INSTRUMENTAL BEST ORIGINAL COMPOSITION”.

The
present incarnation of WVC consists of
bandleader/composer/arranger/music director/pianist, Tay Cher Siang, bassist,
AJ, drummer, KJ Wong and saxophonist, Julian Chan. The band remains one of the
most active units in the Malaysian performance circuit and is one of the most
sought after jazz bands for Hi-Fi recordings and live performances.

DPAC ticket entitles you to enjoy all our special savings* at DPAC's Partners at Empire Damansara! The Promotions is running until 31st December 2017! So, please hold on to your DPAC tickets and take this fabulous opportunity (valid for a one-time use and a week from the performance date itself at any partnership restaurant or shop for each ticket.